To understand the ancient Mayan people who lived in the area that is today southern Mexico and Central America and the ecological difficulties they faced, one must first consider their environment, which we think of as "jungle" or "tropical rainforest." This view is inaccurate, and the reason proves to be important. Properly speaking, tropical rainforests grow in high-rainfall equatorial areas that remain wet or humid all year round. But the Maya homeland lies more than sixteen hundred kilometers from the equator, at latitudes 17 to 22 degrees north, in a habitat termed a "seasonal tropical forest." That is, while there does tend to be a rainy season from May to October, there is also a dry season from January through April. If one focuses on the wet months, one calls the Maya homeland a "seasonal tropical forest"; if one focuses on the dry months, one could instead describe it as a "seasonal desert."
From north to south in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the Maya lived, rainfall ranges from 18 to 100 inches (457 to 2,540 millimeters) per year, and the soils become thicker, so that the southern peninsula was agriculturally more productive and supported denser populations. But rainfall in the Maya homeland is unpredictably variable between years; some recent years have had three or four times more rain than other years. As a result, modern farmers attempting to grow corn in the ancient Maya homelands have faced frequent crop failures, especially in the north. The ancient Maya were presumably more experienced and did better, but nevertheless they too must have faced risks of crop failures from droughts and hurricanes.
Although southern Maya areas received more rainfall than northern areas, problems of water were paradoxically more severe in the wet south. While that made things hard for ancient Maya living in the south, it has also made things hard for modern archaeologists who have difficulty understanding why ancient droughts caused bigger problems in the wet south than in the dry north. The likely explanation is that an area of underground freshwater underlies the Yucatan Peninsula, but surface elevation increases from north to south, so that as one moves south the land surface lies increasingly higher above the water table. In the northern peninsula the elevation is sufficiently low that the ancient Maya were able to reach the water table at deep sinkholes called cenotes, or at deep caves. In low-elevation north coastal areas without sinkholes, the Maya would have been able to get down to the water table by digging wells up to 75 feet (22 meters) deep. But much of the south lies too high above the water table for cenotes or wells to reach down to it. Making matters worse, most of the Yucatan Peninsula consists of karst, a porous sponge-like limestone terrain where rain runs straight into the ground and where little or no surface water remains available.
How did those dense southern Maya populations deal with the resulting water problem? It initially surprises us that many of their cities were not built next to the rivers but instead on high terrain in rolling uplands. The explanation is that the Maya excavated depressions, or modified natural depressions, and then plugged up leaks in the karst by plastering the bottoms of the depressions in order to create reservoirs, which collected rain from large plastered catchment basins and stored it for use in the dry season. For example, reservoirs at the Maya city of Tikal held enough water to meet the drinking water needs of about 10,000 people for a period of 18 months. At the city of Coba the Maya built dikes around a lake in order to raise its level and make their water supply more reliable. But the inhabitants of Tikal and other cities dependent on reservoirs for drinking water would still have been in deep than reservoirs.
Paragraph 1: To understand the ancient Mayan people who lived in the area that is today southern Mexico and Central America and the ecological difficulties they faced, one must first consider their environment, which we think of as "jungle" or "tropical rainforest." This view is inaccurate, and the reason proves to be important. Properly speaking, tropical rainforests grow in high-rainfall equatorial areas that remain wet or humid all year round. But the Maya homeland lies more than sixteen hundred kilometers from the equator, at latitudes 17 to 22 degrees north, in a habitat termed a "seasonal tropical forest." That is, while there does tend to be a rainy season from May to October, there is also a dry season from January through April. If one focuses on the wet months, one calls the Maya homeland a "seasonal tropical forest"; if one focuses on the dry months, one could instead describe it as a "seasonal desert."
1. Why does the author call the Mayan homeland both a “seasonal tropical forest” and "seasonal desert”?
○To illustrate how the climate of the Mayan homeland varied from region to region
○To explain how the climate of the Mayan homeland is similar to that of a jungle or tropical rainforest
○To emphasize the vast size of the area that comprised the Mayan homeland in ancient times
○To make the point that the Mayan homeland is climatically more complex than is generally assumed
Paragraph 2: From north to south in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the Maya lived, rainfall ranges from 18 to 100 inches (457 to 2,540 millimeters) per year, and the soils become thicker, so that the southern peninsula was agriculturally more productive and supported denser populations. But rainfall in the Maya homeland is unpredictably variable between years; some recent years have had three or four times more rain than other years. As a result, modern farmers attempting to grow corn in the ancient Maya homelands have faced frequent crop failures, especially in the north. The ancient Maya were presumably more experienced and did better, but nevertheless they too must have faced risks of crop failures from droughts and hurricanes.
2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 as a difference between the northern and southern Yucatan Peninsula?
○The annual rainfall was greater in the south.
○The population density was lower in the north.
○Agricultural productivity was greater in the south
○Rainfall was more unpredictable and variable in the south.
3. Which of the following statements about ancient and modem agriculture in the Yucatan Peninsula is supported by paragraph 2?
○Modern agricultural methods have solved many of the ancient problems of farming in the Yucatan Peninsula.
○Ancient Mayan farmers may have been somewhat more successful at farming in the Yucatan Peninsula than farmers are today.
○Farming today is easier than in the past because environmental changes in the Yucatan Peninsula have increased available rainfall
○The Yucatan soils in which ancient farmers worked were richer, more productive, and thicker than they are today.
Paragraph 3: Although southern Maya areas received more rainfall than northern areas, problems of water were paradoxically more severe in the wet south. While that made things hard for ancient Maya living in the south, it has also made things hard for modern archaeologists who have difficulty understanding why ancient droughts caused bigger problems in the wet south than in the dry north. The likely explanation is that an area of underground freshwater underlies the Yucatan Peninsula, but surface elevation increases from north to south, so that as one moves south the land surface lies increasingly higher above the water table. In the northern peninsula the elevation is sufficiently low that the ancient Maya were able to reach the water table at deep sinkholes called cenotes, or at deep caves. In low-elevation north coastal areas without sinkholes, the Maya would have been able to get down to the water table by digging wells up to 75 feet (22 meters) deep. But much of the south lies too high above the water table for cenotes or wells to reach down to it. Making matters worse, most of the Yucatan Peninsula consists of karst, a porous sponge-like limestone terrain where rain runs straight into the ground and where little or no surface water remains available.
4. The word “paradoxically” in the passage is closest in meaning to
○usually
○surprisingly
○understandably
○predictably
5. The phrase “The likely explanation” in the passage refers to the explanation for why
○ the southern Maya areas received more rainfall than the northern areas
○ modern archaeologists have difficulty understanding ancient droughts
○ water problems were most severe in the wet south
○ land surface in the south is so high above the water table
6. Which of the following statements about the availability of water in the Mayan homeland is supported by paragraph 3?
○The construction of wells was an uncommon practice in both the north and the south because it was too difficult to dig through the karst.
○In most areas in the north and the south, rainwater was absorbed directly into the porous karst.
○The water table was an important resource for agriculture in both the north and the south of the Yucatan Peninsula.
○The lack of surface water in both the north and the south was probably due to the fact that most of it was quickly used up for agricultural purposes.
7. According to paragraph 3, why was the southern Mayan homeland hard to farm?
○The presence of numerous sinkholes and wells interfered with farming.
○Southern soil lacked the depth crops needed for growth.
○Underground water was too far below the surface to reach.
○The presence of karst caused frequent flooding.
Paragraph 4: How did those dense southern Maya populations deal with the resulting water problem? It initially surprises us that many of their cities were not built next to the rivers but instead on high terrain in rolling uplands. The explanation is that the Maya excavated depressions, or modified natural depressions, and then plugged up leaks in the karst by plastering the bottoms of the depressions in order to create reservoirs, which collected rain from large plastered catchment basins and stored it for use in the dry season. For example, reservoirs at the Maya city of Tikal held enough water to meet the drinking water needs of about 10,000 people for a period of 18 months. At the city of Coba the Maya built dikes around a lake in order to raise its level and make their water supply more reliable. But the inhabitants of Tikal and other cities dependent on reservoirs for drinking water would still have been in deep trouble if 18 months passed without rain in a prolonged drought. A shorter drought in which they exhausted their stored food supplies might already have gotten them in deep trouble, because growing crops required rain rather than reservoirs.
8 Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
○Southern Maya populations obtained the water they needed for the dry season by collecting and storing rainwater in sealed depressions.
○The Maya are credited with creating methods for modifying natural rainwater and storing it.
○Leaks in the karst caused difficulties in the creation of reservoirs, which were needed to store water for the dry season.
○Southern Mayans were more successful at collecting rain than storing it during dry seasons.
9.What can be inferred from paragraph 4 about how residents of Tikal met their needs for water and food during most periods of drought?
○They depended upon water and food that had been stored for use during the dry season.
○They obtained drinking water and water for crop irrigation from Coba dikes.
○They located their population centers near a lake where water was available for drinking and watering crops.
○They moved locations every 18 months to find new croplands and water sources.
10. The word "prolonged" in the passage is closest in meaning to
○unusual
○unexpected
○extended
○disastrous
11. The word "exhausted" in the passage is closest in meaning to
○used up
○reduced
○wasted
○relied upon
Paragraph 1: To understand the ancient Mayan people who lived in the area that is today southern Mexico and Central America and the ecological difficulties they faced, one must first consider their environment, which we think of as "jungle" or "tropical rainforest." ■This view is inaccurate, and the reason proves to be important. ■Properly speaking, tropical rainforests grow in high-rainfall equatorial areas that remain wet or humid all year round. But the Maya homeland lies more than sixteen hundred kilometers from the equator, at latitudes 17 to 22 degrees north, in a habitat termed a "seasonal tropical forest." ■That is, while there does tend to be a rainy season from May to October, there is also a dry season from January through April. If one focuses on the wet months, one calls the Maya homeland a "seasonal tropical forest"; if one focuses on the dry months, one could instead describe it as a "seasonal desert." ■
12. Look at the four squares [] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.
The difference between the two climates challenged the Maya who had to deal with both.
Where would the sentence best fit?
13.Directions: Select from the seven phrases below the phrases that correctly characterize the southern Mayan homeland and the phrases that correctly characterize the northern Mayan homeland. Drag each phrase you select into the appropriate column of the table. Two of the phrases will NOT be used. This question is worth 3 points.
Southern Mayan homeland
●
●
●
Northern Mayan homeland
●
●
Answer Choices
○ City of Tikal
○ Predictable rainfall
○
○ Used reservoirs
○ Obtained water from wells
○ Dramatically improved corn crops
○
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參考答案：
1. ○4
2. ○4
3. ○2
4. ○2
5. ○3
6. ○2
7. ○3
8.○1
9. ○1
10. ○3
11. ○1
12. ○4
13. Southern Mayan homeland: City of Tikal; High above water table; Used reservoirs
Northern Mayan homeland: Obtained water from wells; Had comparatively thin layer of soil
為了了解生活在今天南墨西哥和中美洲地區(qū)的古瑪雅人，以及他們所面對(duì)的生態(tài)困境，我們必須先研究他們生活的環(huán)境，也就是今天我們所謂的“叢林”或者“熱帶雨林”。這種觀點(diǎn)并不準(zhǔn)確，但是環(huán)境因素的意義還是很重要的。嚴(yán)格意義上講，熱帶雨林生長(zhǎng)在赤道多雨地區(qū)，氣候常年潮濕。但是瑪雅遺址位于北緯17°到22°，距離赤道1 600公里以上，也就是通常所說(shuō)的“熱帶季雨林”地區(qū)。也就是說(shuō)，該地區(qū)5～510月為雨季，而１～４月為旱季。如果著眼于雨季，可以說(shuō)瑪雅遺址位于“熱帶季雨林”，如果著眼于旱季，那瑪雅遺址就可以被稱之為“季節(jié)性沙漠”了。
瑪雅人所居住的尤卡坦半島自北向南的年降水量為18到100英寸（457到2540毫米）逐級(jí)遞增的，而且土壤厚度也是逐漸增加，所以半島南部的農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)力相對(duì)較高，也就能養(yǎng)活更多人口。不過(guò)瑪雅遺址每年降雨量變化很大，很難預(yù)測(cè)。最近一些年份的降雨次數(shù)要比其他年份多三四倍。因此，如今農(nóng)民要在瑪雅遺址種植谷物就要面臨頻繁的作物減產(chǎn)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，尤其在半島的北部地區(qū)。古瑪雅人也許更有經(jīng)驗(yàn)也做得更好，但是不管怎么說(shuō)他們都必須面對(duì)旱災(zāi)和颶風(fēng)帶來(lái)的顆粒無(wú)收的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
盡管瑪雅遺址的南部比北部降水量多，但是在潮濕的南方水資源問(wèn)題反而更加尖銳。生活在南部地區(qū)的人古瑪雅人所面臨的麻煩，如今也困擾著考古學(xué)家，他們想不通為什么濕潤(rùn)的南方比干旱的北方更容易受到旱災(zāi)影響。一種可能的解釋是，尤卡坦半島的地下水資源區(qū)域是傾斜的，但是地表海拔從北向南遞增，所以，越往南地表就會(huì)越高于地下水位。而半島北部海拔非常低，因此古瑪雅人可以由深層排水口或者深洞到達(dá)地下水位，這種深層排水口叫做“豎井” 。在沒(méi)有排水口且海拔較低的北部沿海地區(qū)，瑪雅人就需要借助鑿井到達(dá)75英尺（22米）深的地下水含水層。但在南方若想通過(guò)排水口或鑿井達(dá)到含水層的話，深度就要深得多。更糟糕的是，尤卡坦半島大部分地區(qū)屬于喀斯特地貌，多孔狀如海綿的石灰?guī)r地形，雨水直接流入地下，幾乎沒(méi)有地表水余留。
那么南部如此密集的瑪雅人是如何應(yīng)對(duì)水資源問(wèn)題的呢？起初最令我們驚訝的是，瑪雅的很多城市并沒(méi)有建在河邊而是建在起伏的高地上。有種解釋是，瑪雅人挖掘或者改造自然的低地，然后在低地的底部涂抹上灰泥來(lái)堵住喀斯特地貌的裂口，從而建成水庫(kù)，收集雨水以備旱季之用。比如說(shuō)，位于瑪雅提卡爾城的水庫(kù)的蓄水可供一萬(wàn)人飲用18個(gè)月。在科巴城，瑪雅人圍繞湖泊建造堤壩，增加高度從而保障水源供給。但是提卡爾以及其他城市的居民們的飲用水都靠這些水庫(kù)解決，如果18個(gè)月持久干旱滴雨未下，之后他們便要陷入困境。即使是短期的干旱，儲(chǔ)存的食物供應(yīng)的耗費(fèi)或許已經(jīng)讓他們舉步維艱，因?yàn)檗r(nóng)作物的生長(zhǎng)需水量要比水庫(kù)大得多。
豎井是開(kāi)挖或清理坎兒井暗渠時(shí)運(yùn)送地下泥沙或淤泥的通道，也是送氣通風(fēng)口。井深因地勢(shì)和地下水位 坎兒井豎井高低不同而有深有淺，一般是越靠近源頭豎井就越深，最深的豎井可達(dá)90米以上。
喀斯特（KARST）即巖溶，是水對(duì)可溶性巖石（碳酸鹽巖、石膏、巖鹽等）進(jìn)行以化學(xué)溶蝕作用為主，流水的沖蝕、潛蝕和崩塌等機(jī)械作用為輔的地質(zhì)作用，以及由這些作用所產(chǎn)生的現(xiàn)象的總稱。由喀斯特作用所造成地貌，稱喀斯特地貌（巖溶地貌）。
